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It’s been a season where it rained goals across all the top leagues in Europe. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as always, scaled new heights with their exploits in front of goal.
Messi well and truly stamped his authority based on his individual greatness but more importantly, played a significant role in guiding the Catalans to an unprecedented second treble while Ronaldo had a brilliant season individually, but his team couldn’t make it count.
Apart from these two usual suspects, there are a host of others who have made a significant impact on their team’s fortunes with their goals. We look at 10 players who have contributed to more than 30 goals for their teams this season -
Selection Criteria
Total number of goals and assists provided have been considered.
Only players from the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 have been considered.
Only league competitions and respective Cups and European competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Europa League) and Club World Cup have been considered.
Honourable mentions
Carlos Tevez (Juventus) – 29 goals and 7 assists
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) – 21 goals and 14 assists
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) – 28 goals and 6 assists
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) – 22 goals and 12 assists
10 – Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
One of the most enchanting and magical stories of the Premier League has been the rise of a rookie striker playing his first full season at the top level. Initially having to ply his trade in lower leagues at different clubs to convince his employers at White Hart Lane, Harry Kane has put to rest any doubt regarding his potential.
The PFA young player of the year awardee single-handedly played an important role in maintaining Spurs’ position in the top 6 of the Premier League.
He has scored 30 goals in all competitions for Spurs, making him the league’s best marksmen. His potential in front of goal is undoubted but what sets him apart is his constant movement and his ability to influence the game as an isolated striker.
He has played a key role in many matches this season, none more important than the North London derby where the fearless Kane dragged Spurs to a 2-1 win after going a goal down. The derby will be remembered and talked about in White Hart Lane for years to come. ‘Harry Kane… He’s one of our own’ - so say the Paxton End.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 21 | 4 |
| UEFA Europa League | 7 | - |
| FA Cup | - | - |
| League Cup | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 31 | 5 |
9 – Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
The second most expensive signing in the Gunners’ history, Sanchez has played an important role in Arsenal’s finish in the top 3. Retaining the FA Cup and finishing strongly in the league was something that was possible to quite some extent due to the brilliance of Sanchez. He has found the net only 6 times since January, yet played an important role in the dominating midfield displays that Arsenal have dished out since the turn of the year.
His excellence has come to the fore when players around him have been underperforming or were injured. His ability to create moments of magic has been crucial when Arsenal were struggling to win games. His speed, vision and hunger to excel have made him a natural fit to the Premier League. Combining these attributes with some lethal finishing and an ability to create chances for his teammates is what make him so special.
How Liverpool must wish that he had made the choice of playing at Anfield instead last summer.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 16 | 8 |
| UEFA Champions League | 4 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 4 | 3 |
| League Cup | 1 | - |
| Total | 25 | 12 |
8 - Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli)
Tipped as one of the best strikers of the world by Real Madrid’s current manager and Napoli’s ex-coach Rafa Benitez, Higuain has been consistently finding the net for Napoli both domestically and in Europe. After enduring a personal nightmare at the World Cup final last year, he has turned around his form at Napoli.
The Argentine makes up for his lack of pace with his intelligent movement and the instinct of a goal poacher. He has scored in all competitions this season, with his best performance coming against Dynamo Moscow where his hat-trick was epitomized by his ability to score with his head and either foot.
He has so far scored 47 goals in 18 months in a Napoli shirt, making him a popular figure in Naples.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Serie A | 18 | 7 |
| UEFA Europa League | 7 | 3 |
| Supercoppa Italiana | 2 | - |
| Total | 27 | 10 |
7 – Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon)
The toast of France is not the self-proclaimed God (read Zlatan Ibrahimovic) but the Frenchman Lacazette. The Lyon striker can boast of topping the scoring charts across the top five leagues with 27 in Ligue 1 if you remove Messi and Ronaldo from the list. Quite an achievement for the talented 23-year-old.
Lacazette has the best strike rate with a ratio of 0.87 goals per game. These stats are better than other top profile strikers like Man City star Aguero, who has 22 goals in 30 games (0.73), Frankfurt's Alexander Meier who has 19 in 26 (0.73) and Tevez, who has 20 in 31 (0.64) for Juventus.
He made history in the 4-2 away win at Reims when he became the first Lyon player to score more than 25 league goals in a single season. Karim Benzema, Lisandro Lopez and Sonny Anderson never managed to achieve that feat.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Ligue 1 | 27 | 6 |
| UEFA Europa League | 1 | - |
| Coupe de la Ligue | 1 | - |
| Coupe de France | 2 | - |
| Total | 31 | 6 |
6 – Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 26 | 8 |
| UEFA Champions League | 6 | 1 |
| FA Cup | - | - |
| League Cup | - | - |
| Total | 32 | 9 |
Kun Aguero is clearly at the peak of his career and Manchester City should be grateful to him for their successes domestically. Perhaps, he can finally claim that he is the best striker to be plying his trade in the League, after the departure of Luis Suarez.
Manchester City’s fortunes this season have oscillated primarily due to the injury troubles of Aguero and also due to the limited service he has received upfront.
Aguero much like his Argentine teammate Lionel Messi has a low centre of gravity and is a difficult prospect to deal with for defenses. He is dangerous with the ball at his feet and equally in the air when he can head home winners despite being one of the shortest on the pitch.
It’s not just the goals but his all-round ability that is so crucial for the Citizens. He provided 7 assists for his teammates in an injury-ravaged campaign.
5 – Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg)
Perhaps the rise of The Wolves has been primarily due to the emergence of Bundesliga’s superstar this season, Kevin De Bruyne. Considered unwanted in The Special One’s plans at Chelsea, De Bruyne has shown to his ex-employers that rejection can bring the best out of anyone.
The attacking midfielder’s core strength lies in his direct approach to the game. He is super-fast and it’s his acceleration with and without the ball that has punished defenders both in Germany as well as in Europe. His dribbling, the ability to take on players and his passing ability are strengths that have eventually resulted in so many assists.
All these aspects of his game were at the forefront in Allianz arena where for once Pep Guardiola’s side was at the receiving end of a masterclass, as they were thrashed 4-1.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| Bundesliga | 10 | 20 |
| UEFA Europa League | 5 | 5 |
| DFB Pokal | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 16 | 27 |
4 – Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Barcelona are the toast of the purists for their brilliance in gameplay, the players that ply their trade and their clean image. Hence, a lot of eyebrows were raised when the Catalan giants decided to pursue the controversial yet mesmerizing Luis Suarez.
A warrior of a player, who could go an entire day running after the ball, Suarez has the ability to score with either foot and from anywhere in and around the box. What makes him an exceptional player is his added ability to create opportunities for his teammates.
Goals proved hard to come by for Suarez in the initial couple of months. However, the turn of the year has seen Suarez firing on all cylinders. The Uruguayan has stamped his authority all over Nou Camp with his awe-inspiring performances against Real Madrid, PSG and Cordoba, to name a few and most importantly, the link-up play between him, Messi and Neymar has been unbelievable.
Suarez has shown with his all-round game that the gamble of purchasing him was the decisive moment in Barca’s treble winning season.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| La Liga | 16 | 14 |
| UEFA Champions League | 7 | 3 |
| Copa del Rey | 3 | 6 |
| Total | 26 | 23 |
3 – Neymar (Barcelona)
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| La Liga | 22 | 7 |
| UEFA Champions League | 10 | - |
| Copa del Rey | 11 | - |
| Total | 43 | 7 |
The Brazilian superstar had a difficult first season at the Camp Nou, but he has turned it around this season. His overall game and his link-up with Messi and Suarez are bringing the best out of the Brazilain captain.
His scoring rate this season has clearly eclipsed the number of goals has been exceptional and he very easily eclipsed the number of goals he scored in his maiden campaign. The assists have come down this season from 15 to 7, which could easily be due to the arrival of Suarez and Messi’s renewed roaming role.
However, his movement and his constant switching of positions in the front three has flummoxed defenses along with his ability to be so impactful on counter-attacks, such as his goal against Bayern Munich.
He is finally rearing his head and staking his claim of importance after Messi in the team.
2 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
The Ballon d’Or winner has scored 50+ goals for the fifth consecutive season, thus reinforcing the reason why he is up there with Messi, as the top two footballers on this planet.
Early on in the season, Ronaldo looked like he was waltzing his way to plenty of records, such was his form in front of the goal as well as in the assists he provided.
However, Ronaldo faced a minor dip in form primarily due to the injury sustained by Luka Modric, who stitched the defense and the attack (BBC- Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo). Both goals and assists dried up for the Portuguese captain, which more or less affected the form of the Los Blancos.
Since seeing his role this season converted to that of a more conventional centre-forward, Ronaldo has been able to make more impact in front of the goal for himself (sometimes selfishly) and sometimes (unselfishly) for his teammates.
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| La Liga | 48 | 16 |
| UEFA Champions League | 10 | 3 |
| Copa del Rey | 1 | - |
| FIFA Club World Cup | - | 2 |
| UEFA Super Cup | 2 | - |
| Total | 61 | 21 |
1 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
The argument of whether or not Messi is the best player on the planet was laid to rest in a masterclass performance against his mentor’s Bayern Munich side in the semi-finals. A 10-minute blitzkrieg that resulted in two goals and an assist had both Boateng and Munich on their backsides.
A drop in form last season, coupled with the controversy surrounding the allegation of unpaid taxes had affected both Messi’s ability and Barcelona’s fortunes.
However, the arrival of Suarez has played a massive role in the upturn of Messi’s fortunes this season. Having struggled in a withdrawn role last season, Messi has been firing on all cylinders since the inception of MSN.
Floating in from wide areas, reminiscent under the tutelage of Guardiola, Messi has become very difficult to pick up for the opposition. Playing from the right, the Argentine seems to have been liberated, enjoying his game, dancing past players and yes nutmegging seems to be the new “in thing” at Nou Camp now (read Suarez).
| Competitions | Goals | Assists |
| La Liga | 43 | 18 |
| UEFA Champions League | 10 | 4 |
| Copa del Rey | 7 | 6 |
| Total | 60 | 28 |
